Nightmare In Halloweentown
by Tom Bone
Summary: Human orphan Sora NOT Kingdom Hearts Sora meets skeleton Tom Bohnne on Halloween night. But like many things, Sora isn't exactly what meets the eye...which could help when Tom's plans go awry when Oogie Boogie once again returns from the dead...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I

It had been two years since Oogie had returned from the grave, taken over Halloweentown (making it "Oogietown") for his revenge. Since then, all had been peaceful in Halloweetown, except for the occasional Lock, Shock, and Barrel prank. But recently, a human boy came to Halloweentown; no one knew where he had come from. His name was Sora (not from Kingdom Hearts). He was fourteen years old. He had messy black hair, green eyes, and a a black Organization XIII-like outfit, except without the hood. He was kind-hearted and caring and the good people of Halloweentown took him under their wing. They had given him a small appartment in one of the Gothic-style manses, but just until Sora got a job (perhaps at the Witches' Shop) and he would be able to pay rent for it.

Now, the Halloween celebration had ended. The crowd off Halloweentown citizens were cheering and commenting on their big annual performance. The Mayor climbed up onto his hearse and took out the PA system and spoke into it.

"Citizens," Mayor began, "I can safely say, without ANY doubt that this year's Halloween was a COMPLETE success! Good job everybody!!"

The crowd clammored with joy.

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, leaned down said into the receiver. "And If I may interject, Mayor," began the skeleton, "I beleive this year's Halloween was the most horrible yet!" He turned to the crowd. "AM I RIGHT?!" he yelled, grinning widely.

"Certainly!" said the Harlequin Demon.

"Most definately!" commented the Cyclops.

"Of course!" boomed the Hanging Tree, his Hanging Men nodding in agreement.

"Indeed!" said the Mayor, not noticing one of the Vampire Brothers come up behind him.

"Excuse me, Mayor," said the Vampire. "Aren't you forgetting someting?"

The Mayor's face revolved to reveal his anxious one. "WHAT?!" he asked, frantically trying to remember.

Mr. Hyde had overheard. "Have you forgotten our first human citizen, Sora, already, Mayor?" he asked jokingly.

At the time, Sora had just pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "What?" he asked at the mention of his name.

Mayor's face revolved back to happy. "Oh, of course! Sora!" said the corpulant polititian, "How could I forget?!" He looked to Sora. "Sora, my boy, come here."

"Did I do something wrong, Mr. Mayor?" asked Sora, a bit aprehensively.

"Oh, nononononono..." Mayor chuckled. "The people of Halloweentown just wanted to give you THIS!!" he held out a badge, much like his own.

Sora read the words written on it. "'1st Human.' Oh, guys, I can't accept this!" he said modestly. "I haven't done anything!"

"Oh, come now!" said the Mayor.

"No thanks!" said Sora.

"But it's VERY prostigeous!"

"No thanks!"

The only people missing from the celebration were the pranksters Lock, Shock, & Barrel. They had been out of a job since Oogie Boogie had perished due to the battle he fought with Jack on Holiday Trash Hill. But this was all about the change. Outside the gates to Halloweentown on the path to the cemetery, Tom Bohnne stood with the tree pranksters. Tom Bohnne was a skeleton, formally a 14 year old boy who died in a fire. His bones were white. One of his eyes remained (his left eye, to be exact,) and had turned a blue-grey color since his death. He also had a crack in his oval-shaped skull. He wore a short-sleeved blue vest with a black t-shirt under it with a green collar with blue, denim jeans Tom dropped his Halloween candy on the ground in basket before the Lock, Shock, & Barrel.

"Okay, you little urchins," said Tom, "here's all the Halloween candy I got this year. Now, let's discuss my 'terms', shall we?"

Barrel perked up immediately. "Oh, wow! Look at all the candy!"

"Cool it, Barrel," said Shock, "we can't eat it yet."

"Awww..." moaned Barrel disappointedly.

"We have to listen to Mr. Tom Bo-hunn's terms, first."

"It's pronounced 'Bone,'" said Tom, a little angry at the mispronuciation. "It may be spelled 'B-O-H-N-N-E,' but it's pronounced 'Bone!'" He cooled down a bit. "Well, now that you have my candy, we can discuss the t--"

"Would ya quit yapping and tell us, already?!" Shock interrupted, becoming impatient.

A smile spread across Tom's skull. "Well, it's quite simple actually..."

Meanwhile, back in Halloweentown Square, Sora sat on the steps of the Town Hall sadly, the badge pinned to his chest. Mayor waddled out of the building and locked the door. Then he noticed Sora there.

"You really did a nice job tonight, Sora," he said. "I mean, being a human, it must be hard to--"

Sora's eyes had swelled up with tears as the Mayor talked. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" he shouted, running off towards the gates and ripping the badge off.

"SORA, WAIT!!" Mayor called after him. "RUNNING AWAY IS NOT GOING TO HELP MY RE-ELECTION CAMPAGIN!!"

Tom began to explain his plan to the kids as Sora headed towards them. "I heard your master, the Oogie Boogieman, kicked the bucket awhile back and you were looking for work. Luckily, for you little ones, I'm here to hire you! You're first mission will be to steal the Book of the Wicked from Dr. Finklestein's library and report back to me in a half hour in the ceme--"

At that instant, Sora ran by, trying to hold back tears.

"--tery." Tom turned and watched Sora run by. "Hey, what the heck's with THAT kid? You three carry out the mission. I'll got see what's up." And he ran off after Sora.

"Can we eat the candy now?" Lock asked when Tom had turned the corner.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II

Sora stood atop the crest Spiral Hill, staring at the huge full moon, shining down upon him...regretting...

"Hey, buddy!" Tom called, coming out from a tombstone at the base of the hill. "You look a little down. It's Halloween! You should be happy! What the heck is your problem?"

Sora wiped a tear off of his face, not looking to see who he was talking to. "Who wants to know?"

Tom hated not getting instant gratification. "Tom Betelgeuse Bohnne, that's who! You got a problem with that?"

Sora made a face and turned to see Tom below. "Your parents actually gave you 'Betelgeuse' for a middle name?"

"It was my great-uncle's name, or something." he said.

Sora came down Spiral Hill and began to talk with the skeleton. He introduced himself and Tom led Sora to his tombstone.

"So, what _is_ your problem?" asked Tom, still curious.

"I never wanted to come here." Sora replied, sitting down.

"Everyone dies, Sora; you can't help that."

It took a minute for Sora to understand why Tom had just said that. "Well, actually Tom, I'm not really dead." he said quietly.

"YOU AREN'T?!" shouted Tom, bewildered. "Then what the hell are you doing here?!"

Sora gave a big sigh that seemed to go on forever. "Well," he took another deep breath, "around when I was five or six, my adoptive father was hiking in the mountains. He conviniently found me in a cave with no one in sight. On instinct, he took me back to live with his family. I fit into society well and everything was going great...well, until the fire. One day, a friend and I were being brutally picked on by some bullies at school during recess. Then, I snapped and my world went black...When I woke up, I couldn't remember a thing; the school was in flames and some angry people stood over me, glaring at me. They told me I had killed five people and ten were wounded. I insisted I didn't do a thing, but they began to chase me...with weapons...I finally lost them in the woods. I kept wandering unil I found the Halloweentown Door. And the rest, you can guess."

"Oh, cheer up, Sora!" Tom said quite happily, as if he wasn't listening at all. "Those kids will be here any min--"

"TOM!!" Speak of the devil. Lock, Shock, & Barrel waddled over to Tom and handed him the Book of the Wicked. "Look what we found!!" said Lock.

"Oh, sweet!" said Tom. "Give it here!"

Lock handed him the book.

Tom marvaled at the black book with its purple spine and yellow writing on the front. On the cover was a golden goblet with something green bubbling inside of it. "Wowwwww...The Book of the Wicked! I didn't think you boys would actually come through for me."

"I'm a girl." Shock said quickly.

"'Book of the _WHAT_?!'" Sora asked, confused.

"Whoops!" Tom said, embarassed. "I forgot to tell you about that!" He put his arm around Sora. "Don't worry, Sora m'boy! We're gonna have some fun with this thing!" Tom laughed sinisterly. "A _lot_ of fun..." he added quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

I did NOT write that spell; it is from _Beetlejuice_ and credit for it goes to Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson.

Chapter III

Sneaking through the night, Sora, Tom Bohnne, and Lock, Shock, & Barrel, went to the abandoned basement of the latter three's Treehouse. It used to be the casino/torture chamber lair of the trio's old master, Oogie Boogie, where he used to torture his victims...and the eat them in a batch of Snake-'n'-Spider Stew. All the machines and things were shut down. It was very dark and cobwebs were on everything; some things had even rusted from not being in use for so long. The only source of light was the moonlight shining in through the single window.

Tom placed the Book of the Wicked on a yellow, spiked table-like object in the center of the torture chamber. "Now that we're in the late Oogie Boogie's lair," he said with a mischevious grin, "is everyone ready?"

"Ready for what?" Sora asked, but Shock interrupted.

"Uh, Mr. Bohnne?" she asked.

Tom looked down and her and both of her comrades looked a bit frightened.

"I don't think we should be playing down here with Mr. Oogie's old toys."

"Yeah!" said Lock. "They can be real dangerous!"

"Oh, quit worrying!" said Tom dismissively. "We'll be fine."

Sora, still quite aprehensive, finally asked again. "Tom, what in the word are we doing down here?"

Tom gave a heavy sigh. "Well, I guess the cat's gotta come out of the bag sometime..." the skeleton boy muttered to himself. "Ever since I died and came here a few months ago, I wanted to try and become the Pumpkin King. But big, bad Jack Skellington was _sooooooooo_ scary tht I realized that I could never compete with someone as terrifying as he is! Now it's time to prove that _I'm_ the scariest one in Halloweentown! I'm going to use the Book of the Wicked to reavtivate all of Oogie's machines and stuff so I can make the scariest Halloween ever!"

_What's the big deal?_ Sora thought. _Pumpkin King is just a stupid title. He can't want it THAT bad. This guy's crazier than I thought!_

Tom began to flip through the book. There was awkward silence as he did. Soon he found a page with a depiction. of a ghost rising from a grave on it. "Since we're bringing back Oogie's machines," he said, "a simple revival spell should do the trick."

Tom cleared his throat and began to read the somewhat faded text. "'_Hands vermillion, start of five. Bright cotillion, raven's dive..._'"

Sora exhanged aprehensive glances with Lock, Shock, & Barrel. They were both thinking the same thing now that they knew Tom's plan. "No good can come of this." The atmosphere in the room seemed to change, but no one could put their finger it.

"'_...Nightshade's promise, spirits strive. To the living, let now the dead COME ALIVE!"_'"

A streak of lightning appeared across the sky outside.

"'_A sudden thunder peirces night aa magic wonder mad affright._'"

Some of the casino lights began to flicker on and off and some of the machines began to whir.

Tom smiled, seeing this. The spell was working! "'_Rives assunder man's delight._'"

The book began to glow bright green. Tom was becoming quite nervous, but continued the spell. "'_Our ghost, our corpse, and we RISE TO BE!_'"

First, nothing. The glowing of the book had stopped. The lights died down again and the machines that had been whirring stopped. Everything was the same as when they had entered except, this time, an eerie silence filled the room. Not even the crisp autumn wind was heard outside.

"That was stupid!" said Tom loudly after about fifteen seconds. "What a r--"

Then, a large banging noise was heard. Accompanying it, the book began to glow again, bathing the room in blinding pale-green light. Everyone covered their eyes as not to lose their sight. As they sheilded their sight, an abomidable laughter filled the room. It was not the voice of any of the five children. A new wildcard had made the scene. Everyone opened their eyes. It was none other than the burlap monster, the Oogie Boogieman.

He spoke in a southern-accented, very deep, baritone voice. "OH YEAH, BABY!!!!" Oogie said, standing on the table-thingy with the Book of the Wicked open, under him. "OOGIE BOOGIE IS BACK!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" As he finished the sentence, the grren light disappeared.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Sora asked, frightened. "Get rid of it, Bohnne!"

Tom panicked. "Uh, I d-don't know..." said Tom, obviously frightened. "I'll try finishing the spell. '_As flies the lizard..._'"

Sora glanced down and Lock, Shock, & Barrel had disappeared. The reappearance of Oogie seemed to have struck fear into them and they ran off.

"'_...Serpent fell..._'"

Oogie heard Tom and turned around to face him. "Well, well, well!" he said with a chuckle, his belly jiggling. "What have we here?"

"'..._A goblin vizard..._'"

Oogie bent down so they were face to face. "AHAHAHA! It's just a lil' ol' skeleton boy!"

Tom closed his eyes, only opening them just barely to read the text. He was terrified. "'_...At the spell..._'"

"Good job, Tom!" Sora said, trying to encourage him. "Don't let him destract you!"

An orange and black snake shot out at Tom, nearly bit him on the nose, and slid back into Oogie's mouth. "Well, ain't that quaint!"

"'_...The buried, dead, and slain RISE AGAIN!_'"

Sora and Tom looked at Oogie who had stood back up and crossed his arms. "Are you kids done yet?" Nothing had happened.

Sora was awesturck. "W-why isn't he gone?!"

Oogie laughed. "Please, boy; if you're friend didn't finish that spell, I would have been stuck to that pedestal for the rest of my newly reborn life! AHAHAHA!"

Back in the upper level of the Treehouse (where the kids lived), Lock and Barrel sat on the couch while Shock paced the floor.

"Someone _please_ tell me that _wasn't_ Oogie Boogie down there?!" she screeched.

"Uh...that wasn't Oogie Boogie down there?" Barrel said quickly.

Shock took a club that was lying around and clocked Barrel over the head with it. "I _know_ it was him, you idiot! It's called 'sarcastic denial!' Now, c'mon; I have a plan!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Down below, Oogie Boogie gave quite Sora and Tom a huge bearhug, almost suffocating them both.

"Gosh, I really owe you kids big time, don't I?" he said happily. "Congrats! You guys are mah new best friends!!"

"Uh, sir?" said Sora with a sheepish smile, his voice raspy from lack of air. "No offense, but bringing you back was an accident!"

Oogie's grip weakened and his face became serious. "'An accident?'" he repeated.

"Yes, sir." Sora said quickly.

The Boogieman released them and dropped them to the floor, the two boys gasping for breath. "Oh, well! These things happen!" he said, the smile on his face returning. "I _was_ gonna kill y'all anyway, but now I have a pretty good excuse, don't I? Heheheh..."

Sora's eyes widened and his pupils shrunk. "'K-kill...?'"

Oogie laughed. "Why, yes! After all, child, it's been teo years since I was destroyed! And, as you can imagine, a Boogieman can get _very_ hungry in that long period of time!"

But Sora wasn't looking at Oogie anymore. He was looking at the door at the other side of the casino behind Oogie; the one they had got in through. "Was that door always open?" he asked, looking at it and remembered closing it when they came in.

"Who the hell cares?!" Tom hissed. "A living potato sack is gonna kill us."

Oogie overheard them and had turned around to see the door. "Huh? Door? Whuh door?"

While Oogie had turned around, Jack Skellington himself had emerged from the shadows behind Sora and Tom.

"OOGIE!" he yelled, scowling, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THESE CHILDREN?!"

Oogie had not turned around yet. "Shut up with all of your commotion back th--JACK?!" He turned around and saw the Pumpkin King in all his skeletal glory.

"Oogie," Jack said, his scowl getting angrier, "release the kids this instant!"

Oogie's surprise turned into an evil smile. "Who's gonna make me, Pumpkin Wuss?" he said with sneer.

Jack stood his ground and took out his Soul Robber. "I'll give you three guesses." He turned to Sora and Tom. "Kids, Oogie has something planned! Get out of here now!"

"Uh, sure." said Tom.

"You don't have to tell us twice." said Sora, already heading for the door.

The boys escaped successfully and began to walk together on the path leading away from the Treehouse, the crisp autumn wind chilling both of them.

"Jack's gonna kick that guy's burlap ass, huh, Tom?" said Sora with gusto.

Tom turned around and glared at Sora, pointing at him. "If you love Jack so much then why don't you marry him?!"

Sora stared at Tom in surprise as the skeleton turned around and walked away. "What the heck is your problem?!" he said. "I know you're not very fond of Jack, but he just saved us and you should be grateful!"

Tom stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around.

"...Tom..?" Sora called after several seconds of silence.

"I've never been important to anyone." said Tom, still not turning to face Sora. "If Jack hadn't saved us, I would've gotten us out of there sooner or later."

Sora wanted to say that they would've died within minutes if Jack didn't come, but he saw Tom didn't feel like arguing.

"The only thing that Jack rescuing us meant that I was never meant to be the hero." Tom continued. "I'll just be plain, old Thomas Betelgeuse Bohnne forever. If _I_ had saved us, I would've been a hero; someone worth talking to. But fate just couldn't _attempt_ to give a damn about my wants. No sirree. _That's_ my problem."

Sora looked away. "I'm sorry..."

Tom felt a bit guilty. "No, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have got angry at you like that." There was a few seconds of silence. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." And without another word, he walked into the Hinterlands.

"Yeah, see ya." Sora muttered, starting to head back to Halloweentown.

In Oogie's casino, things were beginning to heat up.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Oogie laughed, his belly shaking. "You're gonna be torn to peices, Jack!"

"Prepare yourself, Oogie." Jack said, getting into a fighting position. "I'm going to put you back in your place."

"Ooh, Jack, I'm shaking!" said Oogie with cruel sarcasm.

Jack charged toward him, his Soul Robber in the shape of a fist. "THEN GET READY TO RUMBLE, OOGIE!"

Oogie chuckled. _Bring it on, Jack,_ he thought, _This is gonna be really quick..._

Sora returned to Halloweentown in a few minutes. He unlocked his almost empty apartment and went in. The walls were cracked in some places and were colored a faded white and the floor was made of brown wooden boards. Sora sleepily strolled over to his bed when a voice came from under it.

"Hey, Sora," said the red-eyed monster under his bed, his face hidden by shadows. "Did you have a good Halloween?"

"It was awkward to say the least, Morticai." said Sora. He plopped down on the creaky bed. "Hey, Morticai? Have you ever heard the last name 'Bohnne' before?"

The monster, Morticai, seemed confused. "No. Should I have?"

"Nah..." Sora yawned, lying down and drifting off to sleep. "But if you do...try not to get involved..."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

Hundreds--maybe even thousands--of miles away, there is a small, dark room no bigger than the bathroom in someone's house. Lining the wall like wallpaper, there were hundreds monitor screens each with a different peice of scenery on it. One screen had a large white house on a hill depicted on it. Another screen had a old castle with strangely-trimmed hedges on the outside. Most of the monitors, though, depicted a landscape from Halloweentown. Below the wall opposite the entryway, there was a large wall-to-wall keyboard with confusing buttons, knobs, levers and switches. There was a chair facing it. The chair was connected to the floor, but could swivel in place. The room was silent, except for several beeps, coming from the machines. In the chair, there was a figure wearing gray robes, a hood shadowing his face. On the screen directly in front of him, lay a paused screenshot of Sora while he was talking to Morticai.

"That' him, huh?" the figure said to himself, looking at the shot of Sora. "Looks pretty stupid if you ask me."

Another person, dressed like the one in the chair had entered the room as he was talking. "Looks can be deceiving, Number 475."

"Ah, whatever." Number 475 said casually. "So, what's up?"

"Number 13 has given us new orders in Halloweentown."

"In addition to the Sora one?" asked Number 475, pressing a button. "I was setting the coordinates for that now. Maybe I can do both?"

"You're not taking this seriously, Number 475!" Sora is dangerous and needs to be taken into custody.

"Ah, keep your hood on, Number 208," teased Number 475. "Just tell me the mission already so I can go to sleep."

Number 208 gave a heavy sigh. "Fine. Mere hours ago, and entity was reanimated back to mortallity by an artifact known as the Book of the Wicked. I have reason to believe that Sora and Tom Bohnne were involved. Anyway, Number 13 wants you to recruit said entity into our organization."

Number 475 flashed a cocky smile at Number 208. "Sounds easy enough. What's his name?"

"The Oogie Boogieman."

Speaking of that horrible bag of bugs, Oogie and Jack were still fighting until early the next morning.

Jack's clothes were torn a bit. and his skull had a tiny crack in it near his mouth. "Give up, Oogie." he panted, his Soul Robber in attack mode. "You can't win."

Oogie had aquired some bruises on his burlap sack of a body. Oogie was panting considerably. An evil grin appeared on Oogie's face when he saw Jack standing under one of his buzzsaw-themed traps. "That's where you're WRONG, Pumpkin King! AHAHAHA!" Oogie pulled a lever next to him and the huge buzzsaw came crashing down towards Jack, who was too slow to dodge. Oogie expected to hear the sound of crunching bones, but the sound of crushed metal took its place; following that came electrical sounds. Then, a small explosion. Was smoke now emitting from Jack? The Boogieman stopped laughing.

"What the hell?"

Oogie waddled over to where the smoke was clearing and gasped. Jack was never there; instead, there was an android wearing an artificial skin to look like Jack. Oogie had been fighting the android for the past hours. Was this thing more powerful than Jack? Were there more? Where did it come from? These questions bouced around in Oogie's head. And he said the only words he could muster.

"I c-can't believe it!" he stammered. "S-someone's tryin' to make a d-dupe outta me!" He glowered down at the Jack android as the shakiness in his voice disappeared.. "Someone's gonna pay for this."

Some of Oogie's sentence was drowned out by a loud poofing sound behind him.

BAMPF!

Oogie whirled around to see a white cloud of smoke. "Huh? Who's there?"

Number 475 was seen as the smoke cleared, his face covered by the hood. "So _you're_ the Oogie Boogieman." he said with a gruff voice. "Nice place. You have fun last night?"

Oogie's face turned to a scowl. "Due to your tone of voice, I suppose I now have reason to believe that _you're_ the one responsible for FOR THIS!!!!" Oogie pointed at the Jack android that lie on the floor, never to fight again.

Number 475 didn't even look at it; he just flashed a cocky smile that showed green, crooked teeth. "So...when did you find out it was a robot? When the fake skin got torn off, or when it started short-circuiting?"

"YOU THINK THIS IS _FUNNY?!_" Oogie screamed, putting his hands on his hips.

The smile faded. "Actually, I think it's hilarious, but that's beside the point."

Oogie's eyes narrowed. "Why...are...you...here?" It was obvious Oogie's anger was building.

Number 475 kept his cool. "Well, Mr. Boogie, I'm from an organization called IDP"

Oogie raised an eyebrow. "'IDP?' What's that?"

"InterDimensional Powers." Number 475 said proudly. "We help decide the fate of different dimensions, whether it be a peaceful existance or a chaotic end. This dimension isn't the _only _one, you know." he added after seeing the confused look on Oogie's face. "There are _hundreds_--maybe _thousands_--more!"

"And why are you telling me this, sir?" asked Oogie.

"I was commissioned to come to Halloweentown and recruit you." explained the IDP member.

Oogie was flabbergasted. He's had quite a night; was he dreaming? No...he couldn't be. "What's in it for _me_, good sir?"

Number 475 shrugged. "_I _don't even know. Number 13 just told me to recruit you. But who knows? Perhaps in said situation where we throw a dimension into chaos, you would be able to destroy Mr. Jack Skellington in the process."

"It's a tempting offer, sir, but I have my _own_ plans of conquest now that I'm alive again." He chuckled evilly. "Besides, I wanna crush the Pumpkin King on my own."

Oogie didn't seem to notice a bit of rustling behind one of his devices...but Number 475 did.

_Huh?_ he thought as Oogie kept talking.

"And furthermore, sir--"

"Uh, excuse me for a second, Mr. Boogie." Number 475 held out his hand to where the rustling was heard. "SHOW YOURSELVES!"

Then, a transparent bubble that lit up the room appeared behind the device. It encased the intruders and lifted them up to where Oogie and Number 475 could see them. It was none other than Lock, Shock, & Barrel.

"PUT--"

"US--"

"DOWN!"

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" shouted Oogie.

Once again, the IDP member began to make a sarcastic joke. "Well, I used my magic powers to generate a forcefeild which therefore lifted--"

"I KNOW _THAT_, YOU IDIOT!! I MEAN WHAT ARE MY FORMER HENCHMEN DOING HERE?!"

"It's all Mr. Tom Bohnne's fault!" shouted Lock. "We swear!"

Number 475 raised a hidden eyebrow. _Tom Bohnne mentioned AGAIN?! _thought the IDP member, remembering what his colleague had said last night. _That boy seems to be becoming more trouble than he's worth. He almost killed my mission objective...does he know about IDP?_

"'Tom Bohnne?'" repeated Oogie quickly. "Who's that?"

"He's our new master." said Shock. "Not to mention the one who brought you back to life."

"The skeleton boy..." Oogie muttered.

"We reported to the Graveyard after he came back so he could tell us what to do next." said Lock.

"He told us to do whatever it takes to kill Mr. Oogie because Mr. Tom said Mr. Oogie would mess up his plans." said Barrel.

"He ordered us," Shock continued, "to grab some weapons from our Treehouse and meet him in Town Square so we could all do it together."

"But he never showed up." said Lock. "So we decided to do it ourselves."

Number 475 was particularly impressed. _Hmm...the kid's smarter than I thought,_ he thought, _he orders these children to kill Oogie, but fleds so he doesn't have to face the consequences. I should tell IDP to keep an eye on this one._

"And that's the whole story!" Barrel finished. "Really!"

Oogie made a face. "Hmmm..." The pondering face soon brightened into a smile. "If Lock, Shock, & Barrel are telling the truth, I do believe you've just saved my life!"

"It was nothing." said Number 475 modestly.

"I'm a Boogieman of morals." Oogie said, seeming to not notice Number 475's modesty. "And I'll repay you for saving my life by joining IDP!"

Number 475 smiled. "Excellent. While your at it, would you like me to sign up the three little problems." he cocked his head to Lock, Shock, & Barrel when he said that.

Oogie turned to Number 475. "Great idea, uh..."

"Yes?"

"Well, I don't believe I caught your name, sir."

Number 475 removed his hood. He had pale blue skin, and long, sallow, yellow hair that went a little bit past his shoulders. His eyes were surrounded by dark purple marks. The eyes themselves were small and yellow with beady black irises. "My colleagues call me Number 475, but the name's 'Betelgeuse,' Mr. Boogie." said Number 475, now known as the Ghost With the Most. "And before I drop you all off at IDP HQ, I have another mission I need to pull off. Excuse me..."

And with another BAMPF of white smoke, he was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

The time: 8:50 AM; the place: Halloweentown Square. The Mayor had just finished giving the town a lecture on whay NOT to put prune juice in the Halloween punch. The Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, was walking home from the Town Hall.

_Now to go home and have the rest of that Snake-'n'-Spider Stew! _thought Jack nonchalantly. As he was about to unlock the gate to his property, Sora caught up with him.

"Jack!" Sora called, catching his breath.

"Oh, hello, Sora!" said Jack cheerfully. "How was your Halloween?"

Sora made a nervous laugh. "Like you don't know?! I just never got a chance to thank you for helping the skeleton kid and I with Oogie Boogie last night."

The Pumpkin King's cheery smile faded. "Sora..." he said slowly. "I hope you're joking; Oogie Boogie's been dead for almost two years!"

Sora's face became a paler shade then it ususally was. Had Jack forgotten? No, he couldn't have; something was wrong. He forced a smile and said, "Yeah, you're right! I _was_ just joking. Uh, see you later Jack..."

Sora returned to his apartment in a daze. What was going on? He told Morticai the whole story.

"...and Jack denies it!" he finished.

"Maybe it was just a dream, Sora," Morticai suggested, "You probably had too much punch at the Halloween Party."

Sora's head was spinning...he couldn't recall even _going_ to the Halloween Party. "B-but it seemed so real..." Sora said, feeling like he was slowly making the descent to insanity. "It _couldn't _have been a d-dream..."

BAMPF!!

Sora whirled around to see what the noise was.

Betelgeuse had just teleported into the room. "Correctomundo, Sora!" he said in that gruff, raspy voice of his. "'Cause if this was _your_ dream, I wouldn't be here; and it sure isn't _my_ dream, 'cause if it was, I'd be gettin' a HUGE promotion and there'd be sexy ladies everywhere!"

"Who the heck are you?!" asked Sora.

"Sorry, kid, IDP regulations; can't tell ya." said Betelgeuse superficially.

"'IDP?' What are you talking about?"

"It's a sort of police force," Betelgeuse lied, "that travels to different dimensions to take in dangerous criminals and I'm afraid you're under arrest!" _Well, there's SOME truth to that... _he thought. He began to walk over to Sora and grabbed his arm.

"On what charges?" said Sora, getting angry. He tried to pull away when Betelgeuse grabbed him. "H-hey! Leggo of me!"

BAMPF! A pair of hancuffs appeared in Betelgeuse's free hand.

"Sorry, kid," he said insincerely, "just doin' my low-payin' job."

A low growling sound came from Sora as he became enraged; his eye seemed to narrow and his whites became black.

Betelgeuse didn't seemed to notice as he cuffed Sora. "You have the right to remain silent! Heh, I've always wanted to say that..."

Sora's iris became small and white with no pupil; his voice sounded outraged. "I said...'LET GO..."

Betelgeuse looked up, his evil smile fading.

Sora's voice became deep and demonic. "_OF ME!!_""

Betelgeuse's pupils contracted. "Uh, that's not supposed to happen, is it?"

Sora snapped the handcuffs as if they were made of toothpicks and stomped towars Betelgeuse, who was backing up against the wall. For the first time since a sandworm of Saturn had tried to devour him, Betelgeuse was _scared_.

Sora's teeth were now shaped like razor sharp blades. He had them bared as he closed in on Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse began to sweat, cracking a nervous smile. "Uh...easy there, Sora, you wouldn't want to hurt little ol' Betelgeuse, do ya? I mean, c'mon, have a heart!"

"LEAVE...NOW..." Sora bellowed.

Betelgeuse gathered up a little courage. "Fine!" he spat. "But when you burn _another_ building down, don't come crying to me!"

Before Sora could respond and claw the Ghost With the Most's face off, there was another "BAMPF!" and Betelgeuse had disappeared.

The second Betelgeuse had disappeared, Sora's rage melted like ice cream in the sun. The boy fell to the floor and landed face-down with a THUD.

"SORA!" yelled Morticai. "Are you hurt?! Are you okay?!"

Silence...

In a few seconds, Sora raised his head; his features returned to normal and Sora looked dazed. "Morticai?" he asked, sounding like he had just taken a long nap. "What happened? Who was that guy?"

Back at IDP Headquarters, Betelgeuse was just finishing giving his report to Number 208.

"So..yeah..." said Betelgeuse, slowly, "the kid went ape on me after I tried to grab him. He's using the power without even knowing."

Number 208 let out a heavy sigh. "That means he can become increasingly dangerous at an alarming rate. Were you able to see what he was capable of like that?"

"Are you crazy?! That kid might've torn me apart if I didn't bail!"

"Alright, then..." said Number 208 distantly, obviously trying to concoct a plan. "We must..."

"Don't bother, butt-chin!" Oogie had just entered the room.

"That's 'Number 208' to you, Number 1306!"

"What do you want, Oogie? OW!" Betelgeuse said as Number 208 elowed him. "What was that f--? Oh, I mean, 'what do you want, Number 1306?'"

"Don't bother with destroying Sora!" said the Boogieman. "I'll be in Halloweentown anyway! While I'm trying to destroy Jack, I might as well crush that little black-haired brat, too, while I'm at it! And with my three little henchmen with me, I can't lose!"

Lock, Shock, and Barrel had entered the room.

Barrel had put his cloak on backwards and the hood was going over his face. "Help! Shock! I can't see!" he said, muffled by the hood.

"You have it on backwards, idiot!" Shock said dismissively, not caring much.

Lock was reading the tag on his. "'Dryclean only.' Weird..."

Betelgeuse and Number 208 exchanged skeptic glances.

"I know you're a bit hesitant now, but me and my henchmen are Grade A players, you'll see!"

"Number 1306," Number 208 said slowly. "What do you want in return if you and Numbers 1307, 1308, and 1309 suceed?"

"Nothing..." Oogie said surprisingly. "..._if_ I don't kill Jack, that is. Now, how do I get back to Halloweentown?"

"The cloak has magical properties." Betelgeuse explained. "Just picture Halloweentown in your mind and say the word 'go' in your thoughts."

"Can all you guys do that?"

Betelgeuse nodded. "Yeah, and some of us, like myself, can do it without the getup."

Oogie, with Lock, Shock, and Barrel, stood silent for a moment.

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

Betelgeuse turned to his hooded colleague. "When I was in Halloweentown, Number 208, I heard the name 'Tom Bohnne' mentioned."

"Oh?"

"Yes, by Lock, Shock, & Barrel. He _definately_ involved with Oogie Boogie's return to mortallity not to mention attempted murder of said Boogieman. He may not sound like much, but he's smart, from what I can gather...kinda like me!" He let out a short, snorty laugh.

"Funny you should mention Tom Bohnne..." Number 208 said, sitting down in the chair Betelgeuse had been sitting in the night before.

"Why? Is he the secret word?"

"Not exactly. While you were gone, I was doing a bit of research on Tom Bohnne's background. You'd be suprised to find out how _much_ he's 'kinda like you,' Number 475."

Betelgeuse's eyebrows raised. "Uh-huh?"

Number 208 bngan to rapidly type on the nearest keyboard. There was a "blip" sound and a pciture of Tom appeared on the screen.

"That's him?"

His colleague said nothing. The picture shrank until it was a small as a fingernail. Soon, a line appeared at the top of it, leading to another dot, and then another, then another. Betelgeuse realized he was being shown a family tree.

Number 208 pointed to a dot high on the tree. "See that dot?"

"If you move your finger, I c--"

"That's you."

Betelgeuse became silent. "Whuh?" was all he could say.

"You're Tom Bohnne's uncle." said Number 208. "His middle name is 'Betelgeuse,' you know."

Betelgeuse turned around and left the room silently.


	7. Chapter 7

Chaper VII

"...and what dis you say his name was?"

"Moritcai told me it was Betelgeuse, Mr. Mayor."

"Thank you, Sora, that's all we need to know. You may go now."

Sora had gone down to the Town Hall to report the Betelgeuse incident. He was talking to Jack and the Mayor, who excahnged stern glances with each other at the mention of Betelgeuse's name.

"Are you _sure_ you'll be able to catch him?" Sora asked the Mayor as he was getting up to leave.

The Mayor, instead of bumbling and goofy like he usually was, was very stern. "Yes, Sora," said the two faced polititian, "We'll find this Betelgeuse."

Sora looked a little more releived. "Thank you, guys." And he left the Town Hall.

After the front doors of the Town Hall closed and Sora was out of earshot, Jack turned to the Mayor. "What do we do now?"

The Mayor gave a heavy sigh. "I...don't know..." he finally said. "There's not much we _can_ do if there's IDP activity starting up again."

"Should I alert the citizens?" asked Jack, looking a bit frightened.

"No, no...we may be jumping to conclusions; we don't know what they're here for yet."

"Yes, we do, Mayor! We know they're here for Sora! You heard Sora said Betelgeuse tried to kindap him! But why...?"

Mayor made a low groan; not towards Jack, but to nobody inperticular. After a long period of silence, he turned to Jack again. "What did you say Sora told you earlier today?"

"He thanked me for helping him and some 'skeleton kid' out with Oogie Boogie last night."

"But Oogie's dead!"

"I know...do you think he dreamt it?"

"Sora doesn't know who Oogie is!" Mayor argued. "He was dead before Sora came to Halloweentown."

"So, _is_ Oogie Boogie back?"

"I don't know, Jack...but if he is, why hasn't he attacked any of us yet?"

"Perhaps he's just biding his time...but who--or what--could bring Oogie back?"

"Lock, Shock, & Barrel did it last time. But they wouldn't do it _again_, seeing all the chaos he caused..."

Jack sighed, sitting down on the stage of the Town Hall where he had told all of Halloweentown about Christmas a little less than two years earlier. "This is gonna be a tough case to crack..."

Sora walked cautiously back home, frightened that Betelgeuse was going to come out of an alley or something and try to take him away again. What had he done wrong? And how did Betelgeuse know his name? Had he and his colleagues been watching him? It was all too confusing. And why couldn't he remember anything? He got angry--VERY angry--at Betelgeuse...then nothing! It was just like...

"THE FIRE!" Sora shouted out loud.

Some passerbys turned to stare at him, and then continued on with whatever they were doing.

Sora ran home, half excieted, and burst through the door. "MORTICAI!" he shouted.

There was a bumping sound and the bed had shifted a little. "Son of a b--" Sora had woken Morticai up, startled him, and he buped his head on the bottem of the bed.

"Sorry!"

"Aaah...that's alright...what do you want?"

"Remember how I told you the reason why I came here?" asked the boy frantically.

"Yeah," said Morticai, recalling, "sure was weird."

"Tell me about it!" Sora said, eager to get on with the story. "Well, I felt the same way when I got angry at Beetle-meyer, or whatever the hell his name was."

"And?"

"I think there may be a connection between the two."

"Am I bleeding?"

"MORTICAI!!"

"Fine, fine! Yeah, it's odd..."

Sora went silent for a moment. "What was I like when I got mad."

The monster under the bed wracked his memory. "Your voice..." he said in almost a whisper, "your voice went really deep...it was kinda scary."

Sora listened intently. "Go on."

"And your eyes narrowed...your pupils were like slits. It's like you weren't even yourself anymore!"

Sora nodded slowly. "Was there fire?" asked the boy, remembering the last time something like this had happened.

"Nuh-uh." said Morticai. "No fire."

Sora felt a little more relieved, but not entirely easy.

Sora didn't sleep too well that night. His mind was more jumbled than a jar or pickles after being shaken up. He kept thinking about Jack not knowing about Oogie, and Betelgeuse and that secret organization he belonged to. What was it called again? "IDP?" Finally, Sora fell asleep, but his dreams were interrupted by voices from the past 24 hours...

"Cause if this was _your_ dream, I wouldn't be here; and it sure isn't _my_ dream, 'cause if it was, I'd be gettin' a HUGE promotion and there'd be sexy ladies everywhere!"

"OOGIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THESE CHILDREN?!"

"...If _I_ had saved us, I would've been a hero; someone worth talking to. But fate just couldn't _attempt_ to give a damn about my wants. No sirree. _That's_ my problem."

"Congrats! You guys are my new best friends!"

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

Sora woke with a start, perspiring and panting. He heard that horrible noise; the one Betelgeuse made when he appeared in Sora's room. Oh, how he'd come to dread that noise. Sora looked around the dark room. Betelgeuse was no where to be seen.

_Wait, can he become invisable?_ thought Sora frantically. "H-hello...?" he whispered dumbly into the darkness.

Sora expected it all to be his imagination and hear nothing, but his call was returned with three soft giggles.

The boy gave a small yelp and flipped the lightswitch on. He only had vision for a split second, but that was all the time he needed. At the foot of his bed were three small creatures in IDP cloaks. Children. They were holding a large, black, garbagebag-like sack. Big enough for someone much fatter and jollier than Sora to fit in. Behind them, a bathtub. Before Sora could say "what's going on here?" or "get outta my apartment!", the three children lunged at him with their sack. Their was a quick scrap, but they had stuffed Sora into the bag, trapping him.

One of them began to speak, and Sora knew in an instant that Lock, Shock, and Barrel had just trapped him.

"You should have more faith in Mr. Oogie's plans, Shock," said Lock in a mocking tone.

Shock groaned, obviously annoyed. "_Fine_. I was wrong. Are you happy now, Lock?"

"Guys, come on! We have to get Sora back to Mr. Oogie's casino!"

What a night for Morticai to not be here! He was off haunting another bed tonight. "Let me out!" cried Sora. He then received a sharp kick to the stomach through the bag. "OOF!"

"Shut up, Sora!" ordered Shock sharply. "Let's haul him into the tub, boys."

Sora was then lifted (with much difficuly) into the tub by only Lock and Barrel. But soon, they were on their way. Sora felt them go down the three stairways of the Gothic manse Sora had his appartment in. Now, they were outside; the cold November wind blew right through the bag and sent a shiver up Sora's spine. .Everytime he would try to call for help, Shock would give him another kick in the stomach. Sora _had_ to think of a plan to get out of this! He noticed the bathtub he was riding in was very ricketty.

_Maybe I can tip it over... _he thought to himself. The boy began to rock back and forth with more force each time. He felt the bathtub rock beneath and around him.

Soon, the kids began to take notice. "What's going on?" asked Lock, holding on to the side of the tub.

"STOP IT, SORA!" ordered Shock, kicking the lump in the bag that indicated where Sora was.

He ignored the pain in his stomach and kept rocking the "boat". Soon, with one final hard-forced rock, he had done it! He felt the bathtub tip over slowly, the bag with Sora inside tumbling out and beginning to roll away. He heard the bathtub land on the hard pavement with a CLANG! along with Lock, Shock, and Barrel shouting. Sora continued to roll, hearing Lock, Shock, and Barrel's shouts grow more distant. Soon, Sora's bad hit something hard.

It took a few minutes, but Sora managed to tear open the bag and climb out of it. He looked at his surroundingd. He was in a dark alley that he had never seen before. It was eerily quiet. The windows of the buildings that enclosed the alley were dark. There was a black cat who, startled by Sora's sudden appearance from the bag, screeched and ran out of the alley. He had landed right next to a dumpster. He looked out of the alley. About 80 feet away, he saw the trick-or-treaters. They had gotten their tub back upright and they were now looking for where their sack may have rolled off. Sora gasped and hid behind the dumpster where the little demons couldn't see him. He heard the pitter-patter of footsteps in the alley now. His heart raced. Then, the footsteps were gone. Whichever one of them it was had stopped. Sora held his breath, for fear one of Boogie's Boys may hear it. Then, he heard the footsteps again. They were going back to where they came! Sora was safe!

"He's not back here, Lock!" he heard Barrel's voice yell.

"PHEW!" Sora sighed in relief. His heart jumped when he heard some commotion inside the dumpster. Sora scrambled back from it in surprise.

The lid of the dumpster creaked open and who should poke their head out but a skeleton with an oval-shaped head with a crack in it and one blue-gray eye. "What's all the yelling about?" yawned Tom Betelgeuse Bohnne.

Sora looked up at the skeleton boy and glared at him. "YOU!!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter VIII

Tom looked down at him. "Oh, hey." he said casually. He hopped out of dumpster and faced Sora.

"'HEY?'" Sora yelled at him. "IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY? 'HEY?!'"

The skeleton shrugged. "Yeah. What's with y--"

Sora dove at him, tackling him and they both landed on the ground. Sora began to punch him.

"AAH!--Sor--AAH!! What the h--OUCH!--is your probl--DAMN IT!!" Tom yelled.

"You!" Sora yelled. "_You're_ the reason this is all happening!" he calmed down a bit. "...at least I think you are."

"What the _hell_ are you talking about, you psycho?!"

"You brought back Oogie Boogie last night." explained Sora, getting off Tom.

Tom got up and dusted himself off. "Not my problem." said the disgruntled skeleton as if he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Yeah, well it's _my_ problem! These weird freaks in cloaks are coming after me and I think it's all related to what you did last night."

"If I remember correctly, I believe _YOU_ were there last night, too."

"But I _TAGGED ALONG_! I didn't do anything!"

Tom made a grunting sound. "True. But who's to say it's my fault? The guys you're talking about could've been planning to come after you for months."

"But _why?_"

"How the hell should I know?"

Sora gave a frusturated sigh. There was just no proof that Bohnne was responsible, no matter _how_ much Sora wanted it to be true. It just made him feel a bit better, having someone to blame.

"Now, who are these people you're talking about?" asked Tom.

The black-haired boy gave a sigh. "They call themselves 'IDP.' I don't know the acronym stands for, but they're after me for some reason. I've done nothing wrong, have I?"

"I dunno," said Tom sarcastically, "I've only known you for what; thirty-six hours? How many of them are there?"

"At least four. That includes your _former henchmen!_"

"_WHAT?!_"" Tom roared. "Lock, Shock, and Barrel?! I'm gonna kill them when I see them again!!!!"

Sora motioned for Tom to be quiet. "If you don't shut up, you _will_ see them again, you jackass!" he whispered through gritted teeth. "They're after me, remember?"

Tom calmed down a bit. "Yeah, yeah...what about the fourth one?"

"I think he's the most dangerous." replied Sora. "He calls himself 'Betelgeuse' which, come to think of it, isn't that your middle name."

The skeleton nodded slowly, seemingly in thought. "Yeah...yeah, it is."

Sora tried to change the subject. As much as he wanted to find out what IDP was and what they were up to, he just couldn't take anymore excitement for one night. "So...what were you doing in there?" He pointed to the dumpster.

Tom opened the hatch and climbed back in to the dumpster. "I live here." he said casually.

"You live _here?!_" Sora asked, a bit surpised. He climbed in too.

It seemed a bit bigger on the inside as it did on the outside. It was already a huge dumpster, and it seemed that Tom was able to salvage things that the citizens of Halloweentown tossed away. Tom had an old, battered couch, much like the one in Sora's room. There was bits of assorted trash in the corners of the rectangular metal trash receptical. He had a small sidetable made of what looked like driftwood and on the table was a silver laptop computer.

"Were you buried with that?" asked Sora.

"No. It was mine, but I stole it from Earth."

"How'd you get back to Earth?! You're dead!"

"How did _you_ come to Halloweentown?"

They must have both went through the Pumpkin Door, Sora figured. "What's on that computer anyway?"

"Meh. Not much. It has an internet connection. I like to be reminded of home every once and awhile."

Sora saw that there was a plug in the pack of the computer, The wire led to outside the dumpster. "Is that a charger? Where is it plugged into?"

"Yeah, it is. The Harlequin Demon's bathroom window is right above here." Tom explained. "When he's sleeping, I plug it in an outlet in the bathroom."

Sora nodded distantly. "Yeah..."

"What's wrong?"

"Would you mind if I spent the night here?" Sora felt weird asking. "IDP will probably search my appartment again. They probably don't know this place exists."

Tom gave a long sigh. "Fine." he said finally. "Just, make yourself at home. You can sleep on the couch."

"Where will you sleep?" he asked, seeing the couch was the only peice of furniture one could sleep on.

"I'll sleep on the floor." said Tom, taking out a blanket from the drawer in the sidetable.

"Are you sure?" asked Sora, feeling a bit guilty.

"No, it's fine. I've slept in worse places." He spread the blanket on the floor. He then walked back over, took the laptop, sat back down on the blanket and logged on.

It took awhile for Sora to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about IDP. What if they found him again? Would just the scrawny skeleton be able to protect him? Only time would tell, Sora figured, though he hoped time would keep that a secret.

Just about a mile away, Lock, Shock, & Barrel cowered before Oogie Boogie in the corner of his casino.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T GET HIM?!" Oogie roared at his henchmen.

"W-we did!" stuttered Barrel.

"Yeah!" said Lock, hiding his eyes, "He j-just got aw-way, th-that's all!"

Oogie growled. "This is unacceptable! _Why _did I think it would be a good idea to let Betelgeuse sign you up?!"

"Cuz we're good at kidnapping?" pipped up Shock.

"Apparently not." muttered Oogie under his breath.

BAMPF!

Number 208 had appeared in the room. "Hello, Number 1306." he said.

"Yes?" Oogie asked, annoyed by the IDP member's intrusion.

"We already know that Sora has escaped Numbers 1307, 1308, and 1309."

Lock, Shock, and Barrel bowed their heads in shame.

"And we've received word from our sensors that a faint signal is coming from somewhere in Halloweentown."

"Really?" asked the Boogieman, sounding more interested. "What does this have to do with Sora?"

"The reason I'm telling you this," continued Number 208, "is that we at IDP HQ find it odd where the signal is coming from; if our sensor's are corrct, the signal is emmitting from a personal computer...in a_ dumpster_ somewhere in the Hemlock Homestead."

"Whaddaya think," Oogie asked, "Sora may be hiding there?"

"Precisely." Number 208 replied with a nod. "Go with your henchmen to capture him. I will teleport back here forty-five minutes to pick up your quarry."

BAMPF!

Sora had finally drifted off to sleep. The sound of Tom's soft typing on the keys of the laptop could still be heard. Then...out of the silence...

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

BAMPF!

Sora shot awake within the second. He sat up quickly. "Oh, no." he whispered.

"What?" asked Tom, looking up from the computer screen.

"Shh!" Sora shushed him. "They're really close!"

"IDP?" asked Tom, talking in a whisper.

"Yeah. Maybe if we can sneak out of the dumpster _silently_ we might be able to get away."

Tom nodded silently and closed the laptop.

They both closed their eyes and began to push up on the lid of the dumpster. Thankfully, for them, no creaks or any other sounds were made from the rusty door. When it was all the way open, they opened their eyes and they were staring right into Oogie's.

"Well, well, well! What have we here?" he chuckled. "Sora, and Tom Bohnne, oooooooooooooh, I've been waitin'!"

Sora's eyes were wide. "H-how did you find us...?" he whispered.

"None of your buisness, child." Oogie said with an evil smile. "LOCK! SHOCK! BARREL! Bag 'em."

Lock, Shock, & Barrel jumped into the air with the sack towards Tom and Sora. "YeeeeeeeeeeeeeAAAAAAAH!"

Then, Sora and Tom were engulfed in blackness.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter IX

They kicked and yelled, trying to escape from the bag, but their pleas were ignored by their captors. Soon enough, the children were let out in Oogie's Casino.

"WHY'D YOU BRING US HERE?!" shouted Sora, dusting himself off.

"Nothing personal," said Oogie in a twisted, jocular way, "just following orders."

Before either Tom or Sora could retort, there was that familliar "BAMPF!"ing sound. "Good evening, gentleman..." said Number 208 in a bored voice; he looked down at Shock, "...and lady." he added.

"Here they are, 208," chuckled Oogie, obviously proud of himself, "the bone-bag and the flesh-wad."

"Well done." said Number 208.

"Why am _I_ here?" asked Tom impatiently. "I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Ah, but you have!" said the cloaked man. "You are being charged with the crime of hiding a wanted man in your 'home.' If you can even call that peice of crap you live in a home."

The skeleton glared at him.

Number 208 gazed up at Oogie. "Once again, I thank you, Mr. Oogie Boogie. I'll take in from here."

"Whatevuh." he said, sounding disappointed. Sora figured he must have expected a reward.

The IDP member stood both Sora and Tom up so that one was on either side of him. He put one hand on their shoulders. Neither boy would run, for fear of what may happen.

Silence for a split second, then...BAMPF!

Oogie's casino disolved before Sora eyes. It was all sucked into a dot about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. That all happened in a milisecond. The nextmilisecond, Sora was flying forwards at what seemed to be the speed of light. Color and light skyrocketed past him--or was _he_ zooming past _them?_-- He couldn't hear a thing because of the whistling of the hot wind in his ears.

"TOM!!!!" he screamed. No answer. Or did he answer, and he just couldn't hear it?

His eyes, now tearing, slammed shut. He screamed. The wind stopped. He still seemed to be moving a little. Then, he felt like he was sinking--fast. Then...BAMPF!!!

Sora landed with a thud on a hard, cement floor. He opened his eyes and Tom lay right next to him.

"Your first time's your worst." said Number 208 who stood above them, but he was blocked by bars.

Sora got his bearings took a look at their surroundings. They were in a jail cell! And Number 208 was outside calling the shots. The room was dreary; the floors and walls painted gray. There were two bunkbeds in their cell and other cells occupied the room.

"Let us out!" shouted Sora.

Number 208 said nothing, and walked away.

He walked into the monitor room where Betelgeuse sat in the revolving chair. "What's up?"

"Sora and your nephew are in custody." he said. "Now get out of that chair."

Betelgeuse got up and let Number 208 sit down. "R-really?"

"Yup. I really don't understand how you couldn't capture just one of them."

"HEY, that kid attacked me!"

"Oh, boo-hoo, Betelgeuse." he mocked, forgetting to use the ghost's codename. "You're dead. He can't kill you again."

"So are you, Barkis!" Betelgeuse snapped back. "But that doesn't mean you can show off by going out on dangerous missions, knowing nothing can kill you!"

Number 208, better known as Lord Barkis Bittern, turned around and leered at his partner. "That is NOT why I get to go out on dangerous missions."

"Oh?" Betelgeuse said snidely.

Barkis pulled down his hood. His skin was blue and his eyes were yellow. His hair was a sallow gray and there were large gashes and scars on his face. "THIS is why I get to go on dangerous missions!" he said, pointing to the largest scar. "Do you know what those idiot corpses did for killing their beloved Emily? They wanted to give me a fate worse than death!! They tortured me; beat me! But I escaped! I go on! THAT'S why I go on those missions and not you. Your failure to capture Sora just proves your incompitance."

Betelgeuse turned and walked out of the computer room, muttering something about him probably not being able to feel the pain. The ghost with the most wandered through the enourmous IDP HQ silently until he got to the dorm section. He got to dorm number 278 and rapped on the door.

"Yes?" came a young girl's voice from the other side.

"It's me." said Betelgeuse sadly.

"Oh! Come in!"

Betelgeuse walked in. On the bed was a pretty girl with dark-caucasian skin about 13 years old. He had beautiful blue eyes and long blue hair. She, too, was in an IDP robe. "Zoe..." he began forlornly.

"Are you okay, Dad?" she asked him, seeing the look on his face.

He ignored her. "Zoe; I think it's time we have ourselves a little family reunion."

"Huh?" the girl named Zoe was confused.

"Just come with me."

Betelgeuse led his daughter to the prison cell that had Tom Bohnne and Sora in it. They were sleeping in the beds, now. Sora, with no blanket, shivered uncomfortably. Tom, on the otherhand,had taken off his sweatshirt and used it as a blanket.

"See that skeleton?" said Betelgeuse.

"Yes."

"He's your cousin; my nephew. His name is Tom Bohnne."

She was silent for a moment. "Who is that boy in black?"

He shrugged. "That's a hard question to answer, exactly who he is. All I know is his name; Sora."

"Sora." she repeated quietly.

There was a long silence. "I know you never knew your mother and the only family you have is me, but maybe you'd like to sped some time with your cousin." Zoe nodded silently, still staring into the cell. This was like a dream come true to her. She had always wanted someone her age to talk to.

"G'night." said Betelgeuse softly. He left the room.

The girl stared into the cell silently for another ten minutes. She couldn't believe she had family. She would've prefered her long-lost mother, but this was good, too. Fate was tempting her to wake him up. She walked right up to the bars of the cell and stuck her head in between two of them. "Tom." she whispered.

No reaction.

She whispered a bit louder this time. "_Tom!_"

He began to stir and Zoe's heart skipped a beat. "Huh?" he grumbled. He looked over at Zoe outside his prison and his sleepy face turned to an ugly scowl. "Get out of here!" he ordered. "I'm _trying_ to sleep. And aren't you guys supposed to have your hoods _up?_ And--wait! How do you know my name?"

Zoe couldn't help but feel a little giddy. "My name is Zoe." she whispered slowly. "I'm your cousin and I'm going to get you two out of here."

Tom got to his feet. The sweatshirt dropped to the floor and he was only in a black T-shirt and jeans. "But why?" The suprise that Zoe was Tom's cousin _and_ a member of IDP was suprising enough, but now she was going to help Tom and Sora escape!

"We're family." she said, taking a paperclip out of her pocket and trying to pick the lock.

"Wait! I have to make sure I can trust you! Uh...what's my uncle, your father's name."

"Betelgeuse." she said within a second. "Now wake up Sora."

Tom still felt skeptical, but he didn't want to miss the oppurtunity to get out of here. He reached his hand to the top bunk and poked his friend. "Sora! Time to get up!"

He rolled over. "Do I _have_ to?!"

"Fine, if you don't want to escape." said Tom, pulling his sweatshirt on.

He sat up. ''Escape?'" he looked over at Zoe. "And who's that?"

At that moment, the door swung open slowly. "I'll explain on the way." she said. "We have to get you to my dormroom so we can think of a plan of where I can bring you guys. Now follow me."

Like huge but graceful rats, the three children scampered down the hallway almost silently. The corridors were seemingly endless. They were all a metallic blue color and had doors parallel to each other on each side of the hall every fifteen feet. Occasionally, instead of a door, there would be a passageway leading to another corridor identical to the one they were traveling throught. They could not even see thirty feet in front of them. Past that thirty feet was a seemingly-black abyss. But as they rushed towards it, it became clear that the rest of the hallway was just the same as the last thirty feet. They were running for about twenty minutes when Sora spoke up.

"How huge is this place?" whispered Sora.

"_Very_ huge." replied Zoe simply. "In fact, I have no idea where in the universe it is."

"What was that noise?" Tom said.

They all stopped running to listen. It was the familiar pitter-patter of footsteps.

"Someone's coming!" whispered Zoe. "Hide!"

"Hide where?" retorted Sora. "This is an empty hallway."

Zoe pulled up one of her sleeves to reveal a watch on her wrist. "There's _always _a place to hide." She pressed a button on the side of the watch.

Nothing seemed to have happened. Sora looked down and his body was gone!

He looked for Zoe and Tom to tell them, but they had disappeared as well. Then, out of the abyss, Zoe's voice came.

"Be absolutely silent." she whispered. "We're invisable now."

_How is this possible?_ thought Sora, his brain hurting from all the insane possibilities.

At that instant, two IDP members with their hoods up turned the corner. They were laughing and joking with each other.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." said one of them, a man with a raspy voice. "I've got some paperwork to file, then I'm hitting the hay." He walked to the door nearest to Zoe and turned the knob.

"Alright, then." said the other one, a man with a distinguished Russian accent. "See ya."

The first one stepped into the room and shut the door behind him while the latter kept walking and turned the corner. Once Zoe was sure they were gone, she pressed the button again and she, Sora, and Tom all became visable again.

"How did you do that?" whispered Sora in awe.

"Standard IDP watch." she explained. "Now let's get moving. We turn at the next hallway and then we're home free."

The three of them began running again. They turned the corner of the hallway then...OOF! Zoe had bumped into something, Sora bumped into Zoe, and Tom bumped into Sora. All three children fell to the floor. They all looked up and saw Lord Barkis Bittern glaring down on them.

"Number 478." he sneered. "What are you doing out this late...and with the prisoners?"

"Number 208! I-I-I-I..."

Barkis sighed. "I always _knew_ you were trouble. Any dughter of that hack you call a father could be nothing _but_ trouble."

She got up the courage to talk back. "Leave my father out of this!"

"That's big talk for a girl who's in such big trouble. Number 13 will hear of this."

The hearts of Tom Bohnne and Sora sank. Maybe escape from IDP was futile.

Barkis looked at the other two children. "He may want to see you, too."

Their eyes widened.

Lord Barkis lead them back the way they came with several some different turns. After about ten minutes of walking in terrified silence, they reached a door that looked like every other. It had a gold number "13" placed on it in some fancy font. Barkis knocked on the door.

"Yes?" came a voice almost immediately from inside the room. The voice had an idiosyncratic English accent that sounded nervous, as if something was about to attack the person.

"Number 13; I bring you our traitor, Number 478. Not to mention the two prisoners."

There was no instant answer this time. After two seconds, there was an "alright, send them in."

Barkis opened the door for them. "After you."

The children walked in with Barkis. Inside was not what they expected. It was an office; a plain office. Like one you'd find in a corporation building on Earth. It was very odd, though Barkis seemed to be used to it. In the chair behind a desk was a very odd looking man. He was almost as pale as Tom's bones. He had a long, gaunt face with a long nose. He also had big eyes with unnaturally tiny pupils that looked over the kids. He had a lot of messy, curly black hair that stuck up somewhat and he wore an IDP robe. And, as if he was on Earth, his nameplate didn't say "Number 13;" it read "Vincent Malloy."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter X

"Sora, Zoe, and Tom Bohnne!" Vincent said almost cheerfully.

Sora and Tom were surprised at how the man behind the desk knew all of their names.

"Number 13," Barkis interrupted, "I caught Number 278 aiding the escape of Sora and Tom Bohnne. What is your response to this act of _mutiny_?" The last word was said as a hiss as his eyes shot angrily at Zoe.

Vincent's eyes left the children to meet Barkis'. "You _really_, _truly_ are _that_ stupid, aren't you?"

The children were shocked by Vincent's choice of words and giggled to themselves.

Barkis was equally dumbfounded. "Sir, whatever do you mean? Number 278 is a _traitor_. That means—"

"I _know_ what 'traitor' means, Bittern." he retorted to the corpse.

He stammered. "B-but I d-don't unders—"

"Of course you don't! Get the hell out of my office!"

Barkis appeared to be ready with a response, but decided it was best to shut up and left the office, grumbling.

Vincent looked at the children again. "I apologize, kids," said Vincent. "Now, how can I help you?" His casualness seemed extremely off-color.

"Okay," said Tom, who had just been trying to decipher everything that had just happened, "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

Sora elbowed his friend in the ribs. "What my friend _means_ to say, is 'who are you, and can you please explain to us what's happening?'"

"Certainly," said the former Edgar Alan Poe obsessive. "That's essentially the preliminary inquiry to everything in the multiverse, isn't it?" He chuckled a little bit, and then began again.

"My name is Vincent Malloy, known around here as Number 13. I was born on August 25th, 1975 and--"

"Can you hurry this up?" Tom asked impatiently. "What we _really_ wanna know is the deal with IDP."

Vincent smiled warmly. "Of course, my friend; IDP stands for InterDimensional Powers. We are indirectly responsible for the significant events that have occurred throughout all of history of any world or universe."

"Wait, so you guys are like God, or something?" asked Sora.

Vincent chuckled. "No, not really; we are more similar fate than God. We even decide whether a world will survive, or will be destroyed."

"How do you decide that?"

"I'm not entirely sure." said Vincent, looking a bit embarrassed that he didn't know _all_ the facts. "IDP is made up of ranks. I'm the 2nd to highest rank, but there are members who are above me; they decide the destiny of all the worlds; dimensions; universes—whatever you wanna call it."

"I see…sort of." Sora said, thinking it all over. "But why was Betelgeuse trying to kidnap me? How many of you guys are there?"

"Hundreds of thousands," he replied, "and the number still grows. People join our organization for numerous reasons; some enjoy the benefits of protection from us, but there are many more. Me? Well, I was bored." He laughed shortly. "As for my colleague's intentions, they were not his own. Sora, our organization has reason to believe you are extremely dangerous. And you are."

Tom scoffed. "Are you kidding? Sora's a wimp wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Thanks, Tom." said Sora sarcastically.

"He wouldn't hurt a fly _knowingly_." Vincent explained, turning to Sora. "Your DNA is highly unstable. It is not only that of humans; there is also some dragon DNA involved in your genetic makeup."

"_What_?!" Sora asked disbelievingly.

"We don't know how it happened," Vincent replied, "One of your ancestors, possibly one of your parents, could have had an affair. We only know that if you get frightened or angry enough, you could snap and that little bit of dragon that's inside of you could wreak havoc."

Sora was practically blindsided by all the information he was receiving at once. Then, he thought of something.

"After havoc was wreaked…" he began, "would I remember anything at all about it?"

"I doubt it." Vincent said after a moment of thought. "It's human nature for our minds to block out such and similar memories or thoughts."

"THAT'S IT!" Sora shouted suddenly.

"Yes, that's it." he said softly, knowing what Sora meant. "That's why you came to Halloweentown; you screwed things up on Earth by losing it and you almost charred Zoe's father. IDP wants you in custody because they are not responsible for your coming to Halloweentown; you messed with nature by coming here.

"Why is that enough grounds to arrest him?" asked Zoe.

"It's not. But Sora is highly dangerous, in a deranged state.

Sora looked up at Vincent, hopelessly confused. "So…what do I do?"


End file.
